BANGALORE: Kathriguppe councillor D Venkatesh Murthy was elected unopposed as the 46th Mayor of Bangalore on Thursday.
He is the third Mayor after BJP came to power in BBMP.
Padmanabhanagar councillor L Srinivas was elected as the Deputy Mayor.
While Venkatesh filed three sets of nomination papers, Srinivas filed two.
The election was conducted by Regional Commissioner Shambu Dayal Meena.
Hegganahalli councillor Govinda Gowda M V, who had filed nomination for the Deputy Mayor’s post, withdrew it in the last minute paving way for the unanimous election of Murthy.
Home Minister R Ashok, MLCs Ashwathnarayan and Abdul Azeem, chairperson of the Legislative Council Vimala Gowda, MLAs Ramalinga Reddy, Zameer Ahmed and B N Vijay Kumar were among those present on the occasion.
SIDELIGHTS
■ Both Mayor and Deputy Mayor are residents of Padmanabhanagar and are councillors representing neighbouring wards ■ Fire crackers were burst continuously making BBMP premises untidy and polluted after the results ■ Fans and councillors greeted the newly-elected Mayor and Deputy Mayor with flowers ■ Public gallery was full, many watched the election standing inside public and press galleries
KNOW YOUR NEW MAYOR
The new Mayor, D Venkatesh Murthy, 54, is a BCom graduate.
He was working in KSRTC before he became a full-time social worker in 1989.
This is his third stint as a councillor.
Earlier, he was elected to the civic body from Padmanabhanagar Ward in 1997 and Srinivasnagar Ward in 2001.
He is representing Katriguppe Ward from 2010.
Murthy has also served as a member of various standing committees since 1997.
He was the leader of Opposition in the council in 2003.
Born as the eldest son of late A V Devappa and Venkatamma, Murthy is married to Prabha, a homemaker.
His son is undergoing pilot training in USA, while his daughter Ashwini is married.
Three women behind Murthy
They say that behind every successful man, there is a woman.
The new Mayor has three - his mother, wife and daughter.
Venkatamma, 76-year-old mother of the newly-elected mayor, when asked about the expectations, said that he should help poor.
“He has been winning elections and serving as a councillor for the past 15 years.
We knew he would reach great heights one day.
We are happy,” she said.
His wife Prabha wants her husband to take care of women’s needs.
His daughter Ashwini, a homemaker, said that she expects more pro-women works